Sir: At Paddington Station in London one morning recently, my attention was diverted from the splendours of the very expensively reconstructed station by a fight in between the tracks on platforms 3 and 4. Some half- dozen pigeons were noisily struggling with a rat over a tasty morsel of food debris. The rat won.

Should not Railtrack perhaps spend slightly less on superstructure and slightly more on infrastructure?

Alternatively, might not Railtrack consider charging for such spectator sports in future? There are enough pigeons (and rats) at Paddington to guarantee an endless supply of players.

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